for the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headline news. cries a report on our. meeting with opposition members is one thing but taking part in rallies that's interference in domestic affairs. russia's prime minister calls for politicians to stop meddling in ukraine's business is police in kiev give protests is a deadline to decamped from government buildings. tributes pour in after the death of nelson mandela we'll look at his journey from ostracize rebel to a global symbol of compassion and equality for. children why job why self-esteem. gambling machines that are getting increasing numbers of brits discover bookies who can keep cashing in government regulation.

they welcome the watching r.t. international with me and very far. protesters in kiev have been given five days to stop disrupting government departments opposition activists have been blocking most canes to choose sions for much of this week cheering on the pro european rallies atop a u. and u.s. diplomats who are in ukraine for a security summit is there. usually there is plenty of people out here at night but yesterday we had to literally teeming not just with the ukrainian protesters but also with western politicians one of their own particular victoria nuland who has paid a visit to the tent city that was set up here by the protesters especially expressing the u.s. support for the ukrainian opposition and for the protesters as well as material and

has also held close talks with the darling of the ukrainian opposition among others that we have seen among the protesters on the square were foreign ministers from sweden germany and the netherlands has hoped that the talks with europe will renew you under a new president essentially hinting at the ultimate goal of the ukrainian protest and that is the current government and the president to step down the interests of western politicians in what is essentially ukrainian domestic affairs has drawn sharp criticism however we haven't seen western politicians tending a thousand strong rallies held here in support of the call which the current ukrainian president in fact a lot of observers are starting to raise their eyebrows to what they are calling sort of an indignant hide behavior by western officials. and those concerns have been echoed by russia's prime minister dmitry medvedev during his traditional q.

and a with russian journalists. but i can imagine how our german partners would have felt if russia's foreign minister decided to attend a rally that was being held against german room. i don't think they would consider it a friendly. meeting with opposition members is one thing but taking part in rallies that's interference in domestic affairs and. political analyst alexander told us that some foreign politicians positioning just doesn't tally with their democratic stand. this is. there is. even more so this is something that's should be an acceptable. democratic stand you just have to have call our country to make its own sovereign choice and western diplomats are just not. really concerning themselves about the actual situation or the benefit of the country the people. you're just working from the

economic standpoint you were there was nothing to. slogans about democracy human rights. so it's really just a big. game and it's pretty simple actually. the world is mourning the loss of one of the twentieth century's most iconic leaders nelson mandela who has died aged ninety five after a long illness south africa's first black president and the man who led the country out of decades of apartheid to democracy he spent his final years being at home in johannesburg crowds gathered in the city to grieve for the man they knew as me and celebrate his legacy after a state funeral he's expected to be buried in a private family cemetery in his home village cordons with his wishes world leaders

praise mandela as a hero of our time and the giant for justice some of the most glowing tributes have come from the u.k. as there were smith reports. on almost every single newspaper this morning that is a picture of mandela passed across the front page it happened also that thursday night was the premiere in london of a new film of nelson mandela's life a long walks of freedom and that was attended terror in london by nelson mandela's daughter he learned of his death halfway through. so attended by the duke and duchess of cambridge say that started the royal tribute to you like prince william as he was leaving the film called mondello an extraordinary and inspiring man and the queen also paid a somewhat personal tribute to mandela saying that she remembered their meetings with great warmth and then of course political tributes came in from europe and from all over the world and here in this country they were led of course by david

cameron who called mandela a towering figure a legend in life and now in death a true global hero and said that a great light has gone out in the world and then ordered for the flag to be flown at half mast downing street as well know a lot of other official buildings across london but this is all a massive turnaround if we look just at david cameron for example in one thousand eight hundred five he was one of the leading members of an organization called the federation of conservative students and they produced a post called for the hanging of nelson mandela it's not clear whether david cameron's personally involved but. he belonged to was he also around that time made a trip to south africa as a rising star in the conservative movement and they were low being against sanctions on the apartheid movement so most certainly. in one thousand nine hundred seventy also you had margaret thatcher who slammed him as

a terrorist said that the a.n.c. could never rule south africa anyone he thought so it was living in cloud cuckoo land and it was a similar picture in the us but actually even more delayed in terms of his rehabilitation if you like. was on the terror list and he and his associates were removed from the database intil as late as two thousand and eight nine years after his presidency of south africa was already over now my colleague paula steer has been looking at this in more detail mandela's life over in south africa. he's the man who pulled a troubled and divided land back from the brink of civil war. the man who after twenty seven tough years behind bars walked free from prison in his heart was not to avenge or i think that his greatest legacy to this country is reconciliation but in the last three decades the world tieless he polished the image of nelson mandela and image recognized around the world only coca-cola is better known better men who

struggle for racial equality again south africa's ruling white minority had a dark side the world has conveniently forgotten about nelson mandela been leader of the struggle. a radical. someone. embraced violence as a necessary political instrument at a particular juncture in our history and this house was the secret headquarters of the african national congress it was here in the early sixty's that mandela and his comrades launched the armed struggle it was also here that most of them were wasted put on trial and sentenced to life in prison south african journalist chris bishop believes the one nine hundred sixty four trial that saw mandela and his comrades sentenced to life helped turn the world in their favor during the trial. these gentleman who are on trial the rivonia trial as they went from being the accused of being people on in the dark as slowly transformed they

became the benjamin franklin's of africa they became the freedom fighters they began the man of principle who is standing up merely for the rights of others and it's turned world opinion around from a vile terrorist to one of the greatest freedom fighters to have ever walked the earth the story of nelson mandela is remarkable a man who stood up for the rights of people everywhere but also a familiar tale of governments putting a garland of flowers around your neck one day and a vote the next point. r.t. johannesburg south africa. you can read more on the fight for fairness which defined nelson mandela's life as well as get reactions to his legacy and death at r.t. dot com. now they are gambling devices which can drain all your cash in seconds but in britain they are booming however rules to tighten up on fixed odds betting machines known as the crack cocaine of the high street are

flying during and as sarah firth reports that means payday for the book marcus. there are high risk high stakes gaming machines this in the u.k. betting industry more than a billion pounds each year for. a short fix of. a machine. and to comply. to one hundred every twenty seconds this is a twenty second repeat cycle every twenty seconds. you could feasibly. three hundred pounds my children my wife my job my self esteem . ok. the government's two thousand and five gambling act limited the number of. betting shops are allowed to have to four

machines now more recently in response to both public and political concern the association of british bookmakers has released a voluntary code of conduct aimed at encouraging socially responsible behavior but we've seen evidence that among some leading. everyone seems to be playing strictly by the rules inside this labrat says a glass petition it enables the store to carry not full but eight for the machines which are the ones that. you. are. in a statement about the store. this shop was a concept shop and there are no plans to any further shops of this kind. in terms of. responsible behind

a completely responsible ex army major just in ase well how devastating the effects of a gambling addiction can be a last point was the day when. my mom my dad and my little brother he's actually taller than me. and just said. we've got to get you out of here. i'm just crying and. that's when i lost all my pride i was completely humiliated but it's great because that was the day i realized my recovery happened justin's written a book about his experience and is helping others on their raids to recovery but with scant research into the effects of these machines and as the industry seeks to maximize profit campaigners warn that not taking action eva is one

gamble person can't afford to take surf the london. we've plenty more stories on the way including from the frying pan into the fire. these men were detained by mistake because we would. be sent to a place that they don't want to go in order to serve domestic political purposes we hear from a lawyer representing one of. you who have been sent back by the u.s. but now i fear for their lives. the continuing inconsistent rise of china the clearing restricted fly zones or a critical view on the subject of buying u.s. dollar debt in fact it would appear that china is tearing a page from washington's playbook to make rules to fit its geopolitical interests.

what defines a country's success. faceless figures of economic growth. for a factual standard of living. science technology innovation all the developments around russia we've. covered.

to algerians you had been held by the u.s. for more than a decade without charge or trial at guantanamo bay have now been transferred to the homeland but the men were strongly against being sent back to algeria where they feared being persecuted by the authorities or targeted by extremists. as more at a glacial pace u.s. officials attempt to move forward with the limbo known as one tunnel with endless excuses and a web of bureaucracy allegedly getting in the way of just closing the place down in the latest attempt to take baby steps to figure out what to do with its detainees the u.s. has transferred two prisoners to their home country of algeria out of one hundred sixty four the majority of whom have long been cleared for transfer or release this server petri you should it was involuntary and took place despite the detainees pleas to not have this happen as they feared mistreatment or torture upon their return home the lawyers of the two men jamelle and ms yon and some have described

the move as political expedience callous since the prisoners had made it clear they fear of persecution back at home while countries in europe have been willing to accept that the pentagon has stated however that humane treatment assurances had been made prior to this this is the first transfer since two other men were sent. in august this year notoriously standard one tunnel neither of the men transferred were ever charged with any crime during the entire decade be spent behind bars at the scandalous detention camp the algerian natives were brought there back in two thousand and two and taken to camp x.-ray which we've actually visited when reporting from guantanamo it's an area where some prisoners had been once controversially interrogated with no one actually held there today the number of detainees at guantanamo is now at one hundred sixty two fifteen prisoners continue to be on a hunger strike years since obama had promised to shut the president down on day one of his presidency and efficient and clear plan to close guantanamo yet to be

put in place and if they see it you're going to new york so let's take a recap on the figures one hundred sixty people that are still behind bars the u.s. military facility in eighty four of them were cleared for release years ago but remain trapped in the legal limbo and only twenty prisoners at guantanamo actually face charges and due to appear in court and the rest can be prosecuted because the u.s. is no evidence against them but still claims they are too dangerous to release the lawyer for one of the detainees sent back to algeria says his client fears for his life. he was opposed to going to algeria he wanted to go to a european country so that he could be reunited with his family he's been separated from his wife and daughters for twelve years now we're concerned that he's essentially going to be dumped on the street as other prisoners have been who had no connection with algeria the second issue for mr bence is the fact that he lives

he grew up in a very rural part of the algerian part in the south southwestern area of the country and he is genuinely concerned that there will be fundamentalist islamic system interests there who will assume that he supports them because he was sent to guantanamo and that they'll target him for some kind of violence when they learn that he actually does not have any sympathy with them it's our understanding the white house wants to be able to say look we've released all the algerians that we can it's the only country that's been certified we can't get anyone else out of guantanamo unless you loosen the statute for us so unfortunately these men were detained by mistake held because we wouldn't acknowledge our mistakes and now they're being sent to a place that they don't want to go in order to serve domestic political purposes. from r.t. dot com right now from tiffany bling to caribbean cruises a decade long spending spree by dozens of russian diplomats in america who could

not find themselves in a bit of trouble being blamed for defrauding the u.s. medicare system to fund lavish lifestyles read more about the allegations online. also their details of how small green schools have seen classrooms abandoned in eastern china and how artificial rain could be used to dilute the country suffocating pollution. a radical islamist rebel group in syria has given its tim is for releasing twelve christian nuns held hostage since monday the extremists want the syrian government to free a thousand women from prison so far this. no comment from damascus regarding the demand the nuns were seized from amman a street during an opposition herself in a predominantly christian time islamic extremists have been increasingly targeting the christian minority in syria the country's ambassador to the un told r.t. that some foreign powers have influence over the kidnappers we ask the security

council members. to act immediately and to shoulder their responsibilities in order to make pressure on those states and governments who may have influence over these terrorist groups so that they would release without any condition of the norms and the orphans we should make a petition actually on the saudi government. and the qatari government as well as a government if these are three governments are deeply involved in escalating the situation in syria through the operations conducted undertaken by terrorist groups and other nice france has launched a military operation in the central african republic and curbing a surge in sectarian violence earlier a un security council resolution authorized french troops to join an african peacekeeping mission the latest clashes between rival militias in the capital bangui have killed over one hundred people muslim rebels who seized power in march

of fighting christians to support the president in this house path is the conflict could expand into a full blown sectarian war simon tisdall foreign affairs columnist for the guardian newspaper thinks the french are taking on a highly dangerous endeavor. interventions are very high risk it much easier to get in than to get out there and sending another thousand troops out of there are fourteen hundred troops in total as the french contingent when this deployment is complete for a country which is much bigger than france and the chances are that you know there's always the rest and more more men more material on all resources will be sucked in and the conflict will intensify in mali for instance although an intervention also was supposed to be quite short turned again beginning with. the french are still there in quite some numbers and the charges the militants the armed gangs that came over the border from sudan and chad and so on are still not

mostly intact and the suggestion is if the french pull back to leave they'll just resume their attempt to take over the country. some world news in brief a suicide bomber has killed at least nine people in an attack on to pickup trucks carrying members of a maritime police unit in northern somalia thirty seven officers were also injured in the attack the group has admitted carrying out the assault but al-shabaab is seen as the most likely culprit since being forced from its strongholds the al qaeda linked insurgent group is being trying to gain control of the country's north . in pakistan's capital hundreds have protested against american drone strikes the rally was staged by the. party led by the former critic cricket star imran khan demonstrators chanted anti us slogans and demanded an immediate end to all drone attacks in the country the strikes are deeply unpopular in pakistan but american officials say they are crucial in the fight against terrorism. extreme windstorms

a battering northwest europe two people have been killed and thousands moved to safety is the worst tidal surge in sixty years sweeps the british coast around one hundred thousand homes have been left without electricity in scotland and environment agency spokesman says that six thousand properties in england and wales are at risk of being flooded now thousands of fast food and retail workers in the us staged a national strike on thursday calling for an increase to the minimum wage president obama pledged to push for higher salaries in the industry back in february but critics say little has been done since parties report i was at a protest in new york. what began here in new york city one year ago with just two hundred employees has exploded into arguably the biggest wave of protest in the history of america's fast food industry thousands of fast food employees in more

than one hundred cities throughout this country have walked off the job thursday demanding an increase in minimum wage and the right to unionize now this movement is being spearheaded by an organization called fast food forward and the fast food workers that have joined the strike work at major restaurants like wendy's mcdonald's burger king and k.f.c. now while fast food remains a two hundred billion dollar industry the median wage for the service workers like the cooks and the cashiers in the group nationwide is just eight dollars and ninety four cents an hour here in new york city it's even worse with the minimum wage being seven dollars and twenty five cents an hour now because of the low wages and many of the employees if not most employed at fast food restaurants are living in poverty i don't know why by the grace of god i am. i am in

a shelter trying to get out of there and i can do it because i don't get paid that much some struggling you know and that's why i'm here to see what this week. for me and they ask for right to take you to family well the single people when asked america with and i believe all fall views in vision a country not full cooperation before the working man about another make way too much money for us to be treated like this and where the one will give them the money that they were the one earns and then if they were not earning them because they're the one who takes the money home to make matters worse this problem is only growing low wage jobs have accounted for the bulk of new jobs added during the so-called us. harbury in addition to retail cost are among the fastest growing sectors in the u.s. economy and what these protesters are demanding is that minimum wage be raised to be seen dollars an hour so far only one city in washington state has met those

demands this crowd around me they're doing so quite sure a basic decent living wage an opportunity to just step one foot into the worlds of the so called american dream reporting from new york marina r.t. . thanks for being with us today up next china's ambitions and its potential to reshape the global water that is the focus of pizza lavelle's crosstalk. we often see the middle east as a place of constant turmoil and revolution but people in thailand seem to be very fired up as well masses of protesters are force a government ministries to shut down by storming them with human waves one such ministry is the thai equivalent of the american f.b.i.

which has been accused of killing around ninety people in a crackdown on those who support ousted prime minister taksin shinawatra who is the brother of the current leader while people are crying out for democracy with accusations of violence against protesters so where is barack obama john kerry the mainstream media i mean whatever some group of rebels protesters or i mean freedom fighters rise up for democracy are we supposed to arm them like in syria and or bomb their country back into the stone age like in libya serbia iraq some protests explode across the mainstream media with calls for intervention and others are almost totally silent like thailand and bulgaria where there have also been storming of buildings less than a month ago i might be a conspiracy theorist but the selective coverage and selective concern for some humans rights and not for the rights of others well it smells a bit fishy to me but that's just my opinion.

hello and welcome to crossfire where all things are considered armed people about the continuing and consistent rise of china be it a clearing restricted fly zones or a critical view on the subject of buying u.s. dollar debt beijing is sending signals it will be respected and will act as any great power in today's world in fact it would appear china is tearing a page from washington's playbook it too will make rules to fit its geopolitical interests.

to cross-talk china's geopolitical interests i'm joined by my guest john feffer in washington he is an author and co-director of foreign policy in focus at the institute for policy studies and in london we crossed to martin mccauley he is a specialist on international affairs at the university of london thank you gentlemen for joining me crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it martin if i can go to you first we've been saying the american pivot to asia at least it's been announced it's lost a lot of energy and over the last few weeks it's a little bit more focused with biden visiting the the region and we have the chinese with their new restrictive arizona and travel routes what step is this in the new battle for the pacific in your mind i think the chinese hard fact how they have recognized that. is a weak president and therefore they're.